Winter's Glow
by crazieex3
Summary: Peter and Claire spend winter break together.
1. Chapter 1

Peter opened the door of his apartment, and quickly got out of his snow-drenched coat. He looked around. The place was bleak, uninviting, and colorless. It lacked any decoration, and everything was grey, white, or black. He found out today that he had a week off for holidays. No matter how much he protested the fact that he absolutely didn't need one, seven days by himself just seemed to be his destiny.

He had two new messages on his machine. One was a blunt, and awkwardly short message from his mom that told him to stop working so much, and the other was from Nathan.

"Pete," Nathan's voice said, from the small black box. "I called your boss, and he told me that you have a week off of work for the holidays. I uh, I miss you. A lot. So does Ma. And- we were wondering if you wanted to come and spend the holidays with us. The boys are going to be there, and so is Claire. Just- think about it, okay? Call me back when you've decided. Bye."

Peter stared at the machine, and dragged his fingers slowly across it. Even if it would be awkward, he decided he would go. What the hell, he thought. It's better than spending a week alone in this bleary hell-hole.

***

Claire folded her last shirt and tried to stuff it into her overflowing suitcase. She stood up an looked around, mentally replaying everything she packed just in case she didn't miss anything.

It was her choice, and her choice alone to spend the holidays in New York with her biological family. But, the more she thought about it, where else could she have possibly gone? Her dad lived alone and could barely care for himself, and her mom had some new guy in the picture who Claire couldn't stand. Ever since the creepy night with Gretchen, she had moved out of her dorm and into a single. Just her. No one else.

She desperately hoped that Peter was going to be there. He would definitely make things less awkward between her, Nathan and Angela.

Claire flipped open her cell phone and decided to give him a call.

"Hello?" He said.

"Peter," she breathed. She missed his voice.

"Claire? What's up? Is everything okay?"

"Peter- Shh- Calm down. You're staying at Nathan's this week... right?"

"Oh," he said. There was a pause. "Yeah, of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

She smirked. "Even though that sounds slightly sarcastic, I'll take it as a yes. I guess I'll see you later tonight?"

"Of course. Bye, Claire."

She slid her phone into her pocket, and looked up to see Gretchen standing in her doorway.

"You could have just told me you had a boyfriend..." She said.

Claire scoffed.

"Number one, he's my uncle. And number two, why are you listening to my conversations?"

"Oh please," Gretchen said, "Nice excuse. I saw the way you said his name."

"Wow," Claire said, dumbfounded. "You're ridiculous." She grabbed her suitcase and walked up to her door. Gretchen stayed put. "Excuse me," Claire said, obviously annoyed.

The girl stood her ground, and Claire pushed past her, letting out a frustrated sigh.

She was actually looking forward to this week. A break from this is exactly what she needed.

On her way out the building, she bumped into someone, sending everything in her purse flying to the floor.

"Oh crap!" She said, and quickly bent down to pick it up.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she heard a guy say.

Not even bothering to look up at him, she mumbled, "oh no, don't worry about it. It was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Is this you're cell phone?" He asked, putting his hand out with a pink sidekick. She looked up.

"Y-yeah," she said, stumbling on her words. In front of her stood the most attractive guy she had seen in a long time. He was about six feet tall, with curly light brown hair, and sparkling blue eyes. He held out her hand to help her up, which she gladly accepted.

"Thanks for helping me. Most people would have just kept on walking. I'm Claire, by the way," she said, extending her hand.

"Austin," he said, "Everyone calls me AJ, though."

She smiled at him. "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I gotta catch a train soon. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, maybe. It might be easier if I had your number though," he said, pulling out his phone.

She laughed. "Oh, you're good. It's 555-522-2143."

"Okay Claire, don't forget my name, 'cause I'll text you," he said, and then walked off.

She smiled. That did not just happen. She proceeded to walk to her car, her pace a little more upbeat, and her face a little more happy than before. She had a feeling this winter break was going to be pretty amazing...


	2. Chapter 2

Peter sat in the driveway of Nathan's house. He didn't want to get out. Not yet. He saw everyone through the window, warm, and smiling. Even his mom, who was walking around with a champagne glass, occasionally laughed at a joke or two. When did everything become so normal?

Finally, he took the keys out of the ignition and got out of the car.

"Peter!" His mom said, after he rung the doorbell. "Come in! You look absolutely frigid!"

"Hi mom," he said giving her a brief hug.

She took his coat, and walked away to hang it up in the closet. Peter wandered into the kitchen, where he saw Monty and Simon eating cookies.

"Hey now," he said, "have you guys even had dinner yet?" They looked up at him, and grins broke out on their faces.

"UNCLE PETER!!" They yelled, and ran up to him, bombarding him with hugs.

"Hey guys," he said, ruffling their hair.

"Hey there, stranger," Claire said, appearing at the doorway.

He smiled weakly at her, "Hi Claire." The boys ran off, and he looked around at the kitchen.

"What," she said, "no hug or anything? Are you too cool for that kind of stuff now?"

He lowered his head, "I'm not too cool for anything, trust me."

And suddenly, her arms were around him. She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled. "Cheer up. It's the holidays. And you can either hang out with Nathan, your mom, or the weird cheerleader you saved from Texas. Take your pick."

"Well, personally, I would pick the boys..."

"Hey!" She yelled, hitting his shoulder. He smiled a little.

He walked off, and looked around.

"Nathan's in his office.." she said, sitting indian style on the kitchen counter.

"K, thanks.." He said, and walked away to find him.

Peter walked through the long corridors of the Petrelli Mansion slowly, taking in all the nostalgic feelings that were flowing densely throughout the air.

"Pete! Great to see you." Nathan said, setting down a watch he was working on and standing up to give Peter a hug.

"I never knew watches were your thing..." Peter said, curiously.

"No, they aren't... I was just changing it to New York time. Just got back from Hawaii, remember?"

Peter frowned. No. He didn't.

"Anyway," Nathan said, trying to break the awkward silence. "How are you?"

Peter looked at him with a stony expression.

"Things are...-"

"Dinners ready," Claire said, leaning against the doorway.

***

There was something up with Peter. He wasn't himself. Distant, more like it. As Claire helped herself to another heaping pile of vegetables, she studied him. He sat there and stared at his plate of food with a stony expression. His mind seemed like it was in outer space, and Claire couldn't figure out what was wrong. He had a normal life now. They all did. So why wasn't he happy?

Figuring she should go and give AJ a call, she picked her plate up, walked into the kitchen and set it down in the sink.

"Thanks for dinner!" She said, and ran upstairs to her room. Claire plopped down on her bed and flipped open her phone. She had never been the first move kind of girl, but hell, it was worth a try.

After two monotonous rings, he picked up.

"Hello?" he said.

"Aj! Hey, it's Claire."

"Oh hey Claire. The pretty one I bumped into in the hallway right?

Her cheeks flamed.

"For what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Well, I was thinking... Do you uh- want to go like, see a movie tonight?"

"You beat me too it! I was going to call you and see if you wanted to go to the game, but a movie sounds a lot better than that. Pick you up at seven, alright?"

"K, bye."

After she hung up, she dramatically collapsed onto her bed and let out a sigh. She really liked him.

"Claire?"

She lifted her head and saw Peter standing in her doorway.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Can you take a walk with me?"

She smiled. "Yeah, of course. Let me go and get my jack-"

"Already have it," he said, holding up her white trench coat.


End file.
